Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Viewfinder is directly over the lens which is nice, but the flash has a manual on/off switch.

I found this fun toy camera at my local Goodwill. Yes, I agree why would anyone throw this beauty away? No problems I rescued it. It has toy camera all over it with it's all plastic body & lens and no features. Oh yes, it does have a manual flash.

I popped in a roll of expired (not cold stored) Kodak T-Max 400 and fired away. I even took it to a camera club Christmas party. I was the talk. After about 12 shots the shutter release button stuck in the depressed position. Couldn't advance the film. No problems. A good smack on the palm of my hand and the shutter release button unstuck. I had to do this on the last 12 or so shots.

Anyway, I made it through the roll, and face palm I opened the back of the camera without rewinding the film. Film photographers know that stupid feeling.

I closed 'er up and rerolled the film. I didn't want those last 3 photos anyway. I was surprised in good light (remember I was only using 400 ASA film) the quality was as expected. Kind of creamy as might be expected with it's fine Chinese manufacturing of the 90's and it's plastic lens. Right up there with toy camera stardom. It will however end up in my "used" box because I don't want to have to go around whacking my camera ever time I take a picture. Some photos, and few of the ones that have open back light leakage. Enjoy

Lomography would be proud - filter compliments of an open film back

Pretty colors

Dynamic range stinks

Christmas party at the studio, maybe I should have used my studio strobes

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Over the holidays I stopped at a Goodwill Outlet I had only been to once. Not sure if I would find any film cameras, but I was wrong. I scored big. I found an Olympus Stylus Zoom 70 & a Nikon N8008.

The Olympus is an advance point & shoot a bit bigger than my other Olympus Stylus cameras. It's a bit scratched up, but looks good to go. The Nikon was in surprisingly excellent shape. I've never had an N8008 but have shot Nikon SLR's & DSLR's for a long, long time. This one looks in excellent condition. I simply changed out the batteries and put on one of my many Nikkor lenses and it looks good to go. I'll give it a film check soon.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

I bought this Imperial Debonair as part of a film camera lot on Ebay. I don't recall how much it cost but doubt it was more than a couple of dollars. An unusual looking camera somewhat similar to a Kodak Brownie. The difference is there is a look through viewfinder. This is a medium format camera that uses 620 film.

I knew nothing about the camera, or the company that sold them, Herbert George Co. It looks cool however. A very 50's, 60's look. When purchased it was in rough shape. Looks like it was either heavily used or just thrown around. I cleaned it up as much as possible, and put it in my "to be used in the future" box.

The challenge is unlike my Brownie, I couldn't fit a 120 roll in it. There was a 620 spool already in the camera, but I didn't want to roll my own, and 620 film is either hard to find or expensive. About a month ago, I placed an order with The Film Photography Project store and decided to buy a roll or 620 film. This is rerolled Kodak 400TX 120 film.

I loaded the camera up which is straight forward and easy to do. Because of the cracks on the seams I sealed it up with black electrical tape. After about 4 shots the winding knob was becoming very stiff and ultimately wouldn't turn. Hmmm, I took it in a dark room and opened the camera up. The spool had popped off the winder. I snapped the spool back on and closed it up. I took 2 more shots and the same thing happened again. I repeated the open / close routine. One more shot and the camera was toast. I couldn't get it back on the winder, so I took the film out and rolled it up. I think there were at least 2 more photos remaining.

So end result I took at least 5-6 shots that I think will come out. The film tore slightly at that point (I noticed this when I rewound the film), so I doubt The Darkroom can process the film. I'll send it in for processing soon and will report back.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

I stopped at Goodwill tonight on my way home from work. Why? Well, because I find film cameras on the cheap. Scored tonight. I found the following three 35mm point & shoot film cameras. All of about $5:

Lavec TC-305 Supervision (a rep's gift to a doctor since there is a label on the back "Lozol 1.25 Indapamide Tablets)

Coca-Cola branded camera,

Fun Shooter 450

I really like the Coca-Cola camera. Very retro, although it's dated 1999. Look forward to shooting with them.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

I'm shooting a found (don't remember where I got it) medium format Imperial Debonair. A retro looking plastic camera. Unlike a look down Kodak Brownie this camera has a look-thru viewfinder. Shoots 620 sized film. This film size is hard to find. I bought a roll online from Film Photography Project store and loaded it up. After 5 shots the film jammed. I opened it up in a room with the lights off. The top spindle had popped off. I snapped it back on, and shot another photo. Jammed again. Opened it up, and put the spool back on. Hopefully I can finish the roll.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Tested another 110 camera. This time the Kodak Pocket Instamatic 20. I'll write a more detailed post later, but this camera was a 110 sized pocket camera. I used a roll of Lomography 200 Tiger II film and had the images developed at the Darkroom. Riding through the corn fields during a bike ride.

Friday, November 21, 2014

I've bought several 110 sized cameras over the past year. I hadn't used them because I didn't know where to get the film developed. Found out The Darkroom in California developed 110 size, so I dusted a few of the 110 cameras off. One was the Kodak Star 110. I bought 110 sized film from Lomography through The Film Photography Project store. Tammy the cat is the subject of my test shot.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

I bought my Yashica Mat 124G from Roberts Camera. It's a classic TLR design taking 120 sized film. I've been running a few rolls through it and will be writing a blog post on the camera soon. In the meantime a bike shop in southern Indiana.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

You probably know I stop at a Goodwill Store & a Goodwill Outlet close to my office every other week or so. I just go by to see if I can find any cool film camera equipment. I've been lucky most of the stuff I find works A-OK, or can be put in working order with a bit of TLC. If it doesn't work I just pitch it. No need to spend any time, effort or money on fixing things.

I found a Sunpak NE220-S speed light the other day. I thought it would be a good addition for a couple of my older range finder film cameras. There was a bit of corrosion on the battery leads, but not much. I cleaned it up, but alas the speed light doesn't work. It will end up in the trash. I get a few "dead on arrivals" every once in awhile.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Instant photography is super fun. Now that the Impossible Project has resurrected the Polaroid-like film all of the old Polaroid cameras stuck away by your parents, grandparents, at Goodwill, flea markets, etc. are now good to go. I have many.

My most recent instant camera used is the Polaroid Sun 600 LMS. A member of the 600 One Step series. The LMS stands for "Light Management System". Since there is the standard "light / dark" slider I'm not 100% sure how the LMS adds value, but it does seem to have better flash control.

Like all 600 Polaroids, there is really nothing to do except point & shoot. There is no focus and I found setting the light / dark slider slightly to the dark side is best (insert your favorite Star War's impression here) and shoot no closer than 5'. Any closer and the image gets washed out. At approximately $25 for 8 shots, you really don't want to burn through lots of shots testing your settings. Remember, this is a Polaroid, so the idea is to get something quirky anyway.

I'm shooting the Impossible Project film in all instant cameras except for my Instax cameras and my pack cameras which take FujiFilm. For my most recent shoot with the Polaroid Sun 600 I used a pack of Impossible Project 600 Color film. All shots had a slight yellowish / green tint. Kind of minty cool.

The photos shown were taken as behind the scene shots during recent editorial fashion photoshoots. Totally groovy.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

This was shot in the evening at Crown Hill Cemetery in downtown Indianapolis during a photo club photo walk. I brought various film cameras to test & play with. This camera was pretty beat up and many of the shots had pretty bad light leaks. Very lomography-like. The film door on the camera had to be forced open & the film advance was not smooth. Shot with a roll Mitsubishi MX-III 400 film. I got the camera at a local Goodwill Outlet, so what do you expect.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

My latest camera find is a super clean Canon A35 F. This is a classic rangefinder in the same line / family as the very popular Canonet. I've never had a Canon F, so I was really surprised when I found this during my routine check at my local Goodwill Outlet. It was dusty & dirty, but it cleaned up nicely. The batteries were dead (one for the meter & one for the popup flash) but the battery compartment is clean.

The lens, a 40mm f/2.8 was protected by a clear lens filter. All the moving parts seemed to work, except the ASA selector knob which appears to be sluggish. It's set at 400 right now, so that's what I use most of the time so this shouldn't pose issues. I loaded it with new batteries tonight and the light meter appears to work.

This is going to be a fun camera to shoot. It's the same size as my now dead Canonet, so the size is just right.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

This little beauty is one of my longest running film point & shoots. The Olympus MJU was the first in a series of the line. First produced in 1991. In NA it was branded as the Stylus. I got this one while living in Hong Kong, so there is no Stylus branding. This camera got used for years. I put it away a few years ago when the digital bug hit. The camera got put back into service this year when I reactivated my film interest. This guy was right there ready to go. All I needed to do was replace the battery. I used this camera A LOT.

There's nothing to set on this camera. Just load the film, open the lens cover slide and press the shutter release. This is a rangefinder camera with the view finder right over the lens. There is limited / no parallax issue. The lens is a super sharp Olympus lens at 35mm f/3.5. Not the fastest lens in the world, but there is an automatic flash that goes off when needed. Two buttons are available for self timer & for turning on/off the flash.

The camera is small, a bit chunky but fits perfectly in your hand. The lens cover slides open very easily with one hand. Once open the lens pops out about 1/4 of an inch and you are ready to go. That's it.

I've really enjoyed this camera and will post some photos when the roll currently in it is developed.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

If you are reading this blog you may not know my primary photography jones is editorial fashion & portrait photography. My fashion & portrait work is digital, with a sprinkling of instant photography for giggles. Shameless plug alert - check me out at my portfolio site & blog. However, if you are on this blog you also know I'm into film & street photography. Most of my personal and "walk-around" photography is street photography. I've met interesting & creative people through street photography.

I follow a number of street photographers and regularly read about the genre. That's how I discovered Valerie Jardin. I first heard her through "This Week In Photo" (TWiP), a weekly podcast about all things photography hosted by Fredrick Van Johnson. One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is TWiP. Valerie is a regular co-host. I started to follow her through social media, and although she's a digital girl, her street work is uber. I joined a workshop she hosted in Minneapolis and was hooked. She has skills. I was on her June workshop in Paris where she told us about her upcoming street photography podcasts named appropriately "Street Focus" on the TWiP network. She had her first listener, this guy. She's up to podcast #7.

I wouldn't normally talk about Street Focus on this blog because it's mainly digital, but oh, hold on! This week on episode # 7 she interviewed London based street photographer Walter Rothwell. And you know what? Yep, Walter shoots exclusively FILM. Not only film, but he shoots mainly in panorama mode with a Hasselblad X-Pan. I've been lusting for one of those beauties for some time, but they are pricey.

But wait Steve, in street photography, aren't you supposed to get close and shoot 35mm format? Yes & No, you can do whatever you want. Although the trend is to "get close", street photography lends itself to panorama. Especially in big cities with lots going on like NYC, LA, Hong Kong or Paris. Check out this YouTube video from DigitalRevTV that talks about the X-Pan. I used to live in Hong Kong and from experience it was panorama heaven.

Anyway, Valerie interviews Walter Rothwell on episode # 7, and it's really intriguing. A good back & forth on his style, his background, his techniques & how he works. I immediately checked out his work, and really enjoy it. I like his purity of B&W and the very contrasty nature of his street work. Some of his images brought a smile to my face. Lots of action in those panoramas. Very different than a close up street portrait or close urban scene with a single point of focus.

I also feel three of Walter's comments were spot on. First, "slow down". You don't need to take 500 photos during a street shoot (like I might do in a model shoot) Walk slower, blend in, and selectively shoot. This is particularly appropriate in film. I find myself doing this as well. Also, when you are moving slower you blend in better. The second comment is to re-visit your old images. You will likely find gold nugget images you originally passed by. So true and I find I do this all the time. Finally, carry your camera all the time. You may not always take a photo, but at least you are prepared and your eyes are scanning for a potential photo. I do this all the time. I ALWAYS have a camera on me, even if it's just my iPhone.

So, all you film street photographers, do yourself a favor - check out Walter. Also, while you are at it check out Valerie & her podcast on TWiP. Now all I have to do is get over to London and convince Walter to spend a day with me walking through London's streets. Maybe he'll let me put a roll through is X-Pan. Come on, a boy can dream.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

As normal I stopped at the Goodwill Outlet near my office on the way home yesterday. Look what I found, a Polaroid OneStep Plus Land Camera. One with the cool rainbow logo. This camera uses Polaroid SX-70 film, which isn't to be confused with Polaroid 600 film. It was mine for only about 50 cents. Sweet.

I have purchased about 30 Polaroid cameras over the past couple of years, and all about 3 have worked. The only thing that worried me about this camera was a crack on the top where the flashbar plugs in and the shutter release button appeared to be recessed too far.

Surprisingly, there was an empty SX-70 film cartridge in the camera. Not sure how old it was, but I wanted to see if the battery was still good. I wanted to test if the camera worked. I took out the film and reinserted it, and the gears whirled. I also put some black electricians tape over the crack. Therefore, until I test the camera with some live film it appears to be working.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

My Dad was an avid photographer. He had a wide range of film & digital cameras in all formats. I was going through a box of his effects and found this Electronic Strobe Pocket Camera. This is a 110 film sized camera. Actually, I'm not sure who manufactured the camera or the camera's real name. I checked everywhere on the body and couldn't find a manufacture or a model type. The only thing I found was on the top near the strobe was the words "Electronic Strobe Pocket Camera", so there you go. I did a bit of research and it might be a Focal brand sold through K-Mart, but not sure, again no markings.

When I found the camera in a box I was surprised to find a roll of developed 110 film in it. A roll of Fotomat 110. The film expired on 12/91, so who knows when the film or camera had been purchased, when the photos were taken, or what was on it. I didn't even know if the film was good because it had been stored in a box in a basement and then in a storage room for I'm guessing at least 15-20 years.

I was excited about the film, but a bit nervous thinking about what was on it. Were there pictures of my brothers & sisters when we were younger, pictures of my Mom, or just photos around the house? I don't remember my Dad using this camera, so I'm guessing he purchased it after I had left for school or moved away.

Before I developed the 110 film my Dad took I loaded the camera with a fresh set of batteries and a roll of Lomography 200 Tiger II 110 film that I bought from the Film Photography Podcast store. I took photos around town. The camera is heavy which surprises me for such a small camera. Also, the moving parts are showing their age. The shutter release button was sluggish and at times stuck or really needed to be pushed hard to release the shutter. This created a bunch of camera shake.

Anyway, after I finished the roll I sent them off to The Darkroom along with other assorted rolls. I put a note in the mailer to the Darkroom just letting them know that I had no idea what was on the roll and that it was somewhat special. Corny I know, but I felt it important.

The film came back and the camera worked. Here is a photo from the roll that my Dad took. Most of the photos appeared to be from around their house. The photo is of my Dad's CB radio that he had & used regularly. Kind of cool. Kind of a 60's or early 70's vibe.

The other photos are from around my studio downtown Indianapolis, at Crown Hill Cemetery and during a drive around the town taking photos. The colors are much richer and the camera gives a really soft focus / feel.

Not a practical camera anymore, but lots of fun to shoot. And the best thing, is that this is a camera my Dad used. How cool.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

I recently bought a bunch of simple point & shoot cameras. One of the cameras is a very simple panoramic camera called the Ansco Pix Panorama. No controls at all. Just open the lens cover and take the picture. I loaded it with a roll of Kodak BW400CN. Got the film back today. Leaves a black band on the top & bottom of the photo. Only about 2/3 of the surface area is left in the center of the photo. A fun little camera

Focus is fairly soft, but a very retro look. I bet it would look really cool in color. Here area couple of shots.

Friday, October 31, 2014

My first medium format film camera is right here, the Mamiya M645. A classic beauty. Built like a tank & really heavy. I bought this about 3 years ago on a bit of a flier. I was about 2 years into my editorial fashion / model photography focus and thought it would be interesting to use film during some of the shoots. Good excuse? Not really, but hey, who said photographers always made good purchasing decisions. Anything can be justified. Come on, you know it's true.

Anyway, I researched medium format cameras and decided to get something fairly simple and manual. I'm fluent with lighting, aperture settings and using a light meter so I'm cool with a manual camera. My search took me to the Mamiya 645 line. I focused on the basic M645 with a standard pentaprism viewfinder. No light meter on the M645, unless I switched out the viewfinder. I bought it on eBay for about $150 including a Mamiya-Sekor 150mm f/3.5 lens. A standard portrait lens as the effective focal length is about 85mm. It was a good deal and really clean. It already had a battery in it with good power. This is important because the shutter won't fire without a battery.

I wanted a wider angle, standard lens and a hand grip, so during a trip to NYC I stopped by B&H Camera and made my way to their used section. I purchased an Mamiya-Sekor Macro 80mm f/4 lens and a hand grip. Dropped another $150+

The Mamiya M645 does not have a film back, but a film insert. The inserts are available in both 120/220 sizes. You simply open the hinged back (took me a while to figure out how to get this open), and take out the insert. You load your film onto the insert (there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do this, so I'll not bore you here), and put it back in. When you put the insert back in there is a pleasing, click as it locks in place. Don't worry, you can't close the back door if the insert is not properly seated. You then wind the film crank until it reaches #1. It stops at that point, and you are ready to go. Once you get the hang of it, loading the Mamiya is easy.

Simply set the aperture & speed to the desired setting, focus the lens and you are ready to go. There are 2 shutter release buttons depending how you are using / holding the camera. One is located on the top of the camera at the front on the right. This can be triggered with your thumb. The other is on the front of the camera lower right of the lens. This is the release that is triggered with my hand grip. 2 shutter release buttons are handy.

Flash synch tops at a whopping 1/60 of a second (that screwed me up during my first model shoot since I thought it was higher and I was using studio strobes - I didn't know the little red circle on the speed dial is to indicate the max synch speed....oh, now I do)

Speed from 8 seconds to 1/500 second, there's also a B mode

The shutter locks when there is no film in the camera and as I mentioned above, doesn't work without a battery

There were several different M645 variants like the Super, 100S, M645J, etc. The one I have is the first version & the most basic

Focal plane shutter

No mid-roll change possible because there is not film back with an insert. You have to finish your roll if you want to change

Mirror lockup & multiple exposure possible

2 flash synch terminals: electronic = "x", bulb = "FP"

There are multiple viewfinder prisms available including a waist level "sport", metered prism, etc.

Shooting the camera requires a hand held light meter, the Sunny 16, or simply a good working knowledge of light settings. I've used all 3 with good results.

I'm really happy with the camera. I've run about a dozen rolls through it. All have been Ilford XP2 400 Super. The results are soft. I think part of the softness is that I haven't nailed the focus every time. It is definitely a retro feel to the photos. By the way, being a medium format the negatives are huge, so a well focused / properly exposed photo can be blown up greatly. One other thing, when you take this beast out for street photography or a model shoot it definitely gets stares.

Here are a few images (please note, these images were taken from my 1st 2 rolls and were just to test the camera):

Model Wendy in studio with mono-lights, but speed higher than synch speed

Model Wendy in studio with mono-lights, but speed higher than synch speed

Thursday, October 30, 2014

My primary photo gigs are editorial fashion / model / portrait shoots at M10 Studio in Indianapolis. Take a look at www.stevenbrokawphotography.com. I shoot these sessions with digital.

HOWEVER, every once in awhile I'll pull out a film camera and pop off a few BTS shots. You probably know I do this all the time with Polaroids., For this shot I took of model Lindsay with a Vivitar Series I 500PZ point & shoot using a roll of Kodak BW400CN. Fun.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Italian film production company FILM Ferrania has been "resurrected". Under the tag line of "100 More Years of Film" they kicked off a Kickstarter crowd funding to get the production up again (the production had been mothballed for several years).

As you can tell by this blog I still shoot film, and have been aware that film has become niche to the more mainstream digital photography world. Why, even I use film as a niche, since my main photography life is spent in digital. However, I still work with film. Unfortunately, while film is still fairly easy to get the number of types & brands are shrinking and the cost up. We need more film producers, and FILM Ferrania had a plan to do just that.

I listened to a recent podcast by The Film Photography Project that discussed FILM Ferrania & their Kickstarter project. The goal was to start production of several film types. When the podcast was over I quickly pledged to the project. I was uncertain if the project would get fully funded, but I was hopeful. Today, I got an email that my credit card had been debited and then saw in my email that it had been MORE than funded. Outstanding.

So there you go. First it's The Impossible Project and now FILM Ferrania. Even though film may be a niche, it's a fun niche and #Filmisalive

Congrats to FILM Ferrania & to the contributors to their campaign. All film enthusiast are winners.

I did a recent commercial fashion shoot for an Indianapolis fashion boutique called LuckyB Boutique. Of course I used digital. However, while doing the shoot I whipped out my Polaroids. This time I used my newly purchased Polaroid Silver Express (600 film) and a Polaroid ColorPack III Land camera. For the ColorPack I used a package of FujiFilm FP-1000C & a flashcube. For the Silver Express I used a pack of The Impossible Project's 600 Color.

It is always fun, and my young models had never seen a ColorPack camera. Fun

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Just finished shooting a roll of Fujifilm Color 400 in FujiFilm Discovery 270 Zoom. Had a few small issues with the camera, but overall pretty nice. Blog post after I get the film back.

Next up is a Kodak Cameo Motor EX with a roll of Kodak BW400CN. This looks like a fun little camera. Very pocketable, & very few settings. I'm taking the Cameo with me tomorrow for a commercial fashion shoot for behind the scenes photos. Should be fun.